Item 2 - Exhibit 02 - Town Council Policy Committee Minutes, June 25, 2019110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 ● 408-354-6832
www.losgatosca.gov
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
TOWN COUNCIL
POLICY COMMITTEE
MEETING DATE: 07/23/2019
MINUTES OF THE TOWN COUNCIL REGULAR POLICY COMMITTEE MEETING
JUNE 25, 2019
The Town Council Policy Committee of the Town of Los Gatos conducted a regular meeting on
Tuesday, June 25, 2019, at 5:00 p.m.
MEETING CALLED TO ORDER AT 5:01 P.M.
ROLL CALL
Members Present: Marcia Jensen, Barbara Spector.
Staff Present: Robert Schultz, Town Attorney; Joel Paulson, Community Development Director;
Sally Zarnowitz, Planning Manager; Holly Zappala, Management Analyst.
VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS
None.
OTHER BUSINESS
1.Approval of the May 28, 2019 Council Policy Committee Minutes.
Approved.
Vice Mayor Jensen requested Item 3 be reviewed next, as it was the only item that had
public comment.
3.Discuss and provide direction on demolition regulations.
Joel Paulson, Community Development Director, presented the staff report.
Tom Sloan, Architect
-Commented in favor of changing the existing demolition regulations. He said that the
integrity of a building still exists without outside and inside wall coverings as long as the
studs remain. He said that putting a new “skin” on the studs allows the building to be more
structurally sound and last longer.
EXHIBIT 2
PAGE 2 OF 3
SUBJECT: MINUTES OF THE REGULAR TOWN COUNCIL POLICY COMMITTEE MEETING OF
JUNE 25, 2019
DATE: JULY 23, 2019
Jennifer Kretschmer, Architect
-Commented that the existing demolition policy creates a health and life safety issue
because there may be cases when people allow mold to remain on their sheetrock in order
to save the substantial cost and time delay of the Architecture and Site process required for
a technical demolition. She also said that a time delay of a couple months with an open
structure can lead to materials being destroyed by inclement weather and stated that
removing interior/exterior finishes should not be considered a demolition.
Gary Kohlsaat, Architect
-Commented that it is difficult to match the siding on all sides of a house or cover up
existing siding material without it being considered a technical demolition under the current
regulations. He mentioned that technical demolitions require large additional expenses for
homeowners, including putting in curbs and gutters and undergrounding utilities. He said
that the building process is meant to go in a certain order for safety reasons and trying to
avoid a technical demolition requires builders to go out of sequence.
Bess Wiersema, Architect
-Commented that the demolition policy should protect the mass of an existing house and
the framing is what holds a house together as opposed to the inside and outside coverings.
She said that removing the interior/exterior coverings allows construction to be done
properly, better materials to be used, and the building to look better and last longer.
After discussion, the Committee agreed to forward a recommendation to the Planning
Commission that interior wall structure (framing) should be considered in place of wall
surface material when retaining existing walls. The Committee also requested that st aff
return to the Policy Committee with a review of the requirements for installing
sidewalks/gutters and undergrounding utilities with the goal that both items should be
considered together as a package by Town Council.
2. Discuss and provide direction on the land use appeal process.
Joel Paulson, Community Development Director, presented the staff report.
After discussion, the Committee agreed that the duty to make a finding should fall on the
land use appellant and not the Town Council. The Policy Committee asked staff to return to
the Committee with language reflecting two options for the land use appeal process:
• The Town Council may consider additional findings/information as part of the
land use decision appeal; and
• Any new information would go back to the Planning Commission and the Town
Council would not consider it as part of the land use decision appeal.
PAGE 3 OF 3
SUBJECT: MINUTES OF THE REGULAR TOWN COUNCIL POLICY COMMITTEE MEETING OF
JUNE 25, 2019
DATE: JULY 23, 2019
4. Review proposed amendments and legal analysis to the Town Agenda Format and Rules
Policy regarding time limits for applicant and ap pellant presentations and rebuttals.
Robert Schultz, Town Attorney, presented the staff report.
After discussion, the Committee agreed to forward a recommendation to the Town Council
to modify the time limits in the Town Agenda Format and Rules Policy regarding time limits
for applicant and appellant presentations and rebuttals to five minutes for ea ch of the
presentations and three minutes for each of the rebuttals.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 6:15 p.m.
This is to certify that the foregoing is a true
and correct copy of the minutes of the
June 25, 2019 meeting as approved by the
Town Council Policy Committee.
/s/ Holly Zappala, Management Analyst
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